European Commission funding to tackle refugee crisis

The European Commission will fund Greece with over 200 million euro, so that refugees rent houses and improve their living conditions. This program, which will be implemented through humanitarian organizations, was announced by European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid Christos Stylianidis and European Commissioner for Migration Policy Dimitris Avramopoulos in Athens on Thursday.

Around 62,000 refugees and immigrants, mainly from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, have been living under harsh conditions in various establishments on the islands and in the mainland since March 2016, when the Balkan countries closed their borders intercepting migration flows to northern Europe. Around 22,000 apartments in various Greek mainland towns and around 2,000 houses on the islands will be made available through this program. The aim is to increase the number of refugees living in rented apartments in Greece to 30,000 by the end of 2017.